Friday, February 10, 2006

The Plight of the Bull Moose

Dignan and I like to go back and forth on the following question: is a major third party becoming increasingly plausible in our political climate? Digs is skeptical while I think it is very possible, albeit requiring a perfect storm of events.

Whatever the case may be, it does seem that one hears more and more disenchantment about our major parties--whose abundance of polarization fails to make up for a dearth of imagination and competence. An example of the disenchanted is one of my favorite bloggers: the Bull Moose (I find the sane and thoughtful Moose to be a comforting animal in the blogderness). After an assessment of the current state of both parties as we head toward the November midterm elections, he writes:

On a personal note, the Moose increasingly feels like a fish out of water. He could be either a T.R. Republican or a Scoop Jackson Democrat. Alas, neither party welcomes that faction. The Moose is a socially conservative, hawkish economic progressive - that used to be the profile of a large segment of the Democratic Party. No longer. The donkey is dominated a hyperbolic liberal elite that seeks to purge the party of all those who are not infected with Bush Tourettes Syndrome (BTS). Consequently, the Moose continues to roam in the independent wilderness.In the long run, it is unclear which party or whether either party will be the beneficiary of the deepening disgust with Washington. But this is clear to the Moose - the party that emerges as the party of security, reform and innovation (in that order) will control the future.Will it be the donkey or the elephant?The realignment of party platforms and political dynamics over the last several decades have left a lot of people--um, and mooses--feeling like fish out of water. Will a third way arise?